Trip to Davao: The Last Day

The last day of my stay in Davao October 21.  My flight time was 2:30pm so I still have time to work.  I went to the remote site in Matina in the morning and stayed for an hour.  Afterwards, I went to the site in Davao Doctors Hospital. At around 11:30am we went to a marketplace named Bangkerohan.  I bought 2 1/2 kilos of pomelo and a durian weighing 2 kilos.  The edible part of the durian was taken off and placed in a plastic container that was sealed so that it won't smell.  The fruits were then placed in a box.  At lunch, we ate in a canteen besides the Davao Doctors College building.  One of the foods I ordered was lumpia which has a different color that I used to eat in Manila.

After lunch, I went back to the hotel and prepared my baggage for departure.  I left the hotel at around 1:00 pm and rode a taxi to the airport.  I arrived at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport at 1:30pm.  I thought I'm going to be late but the time of departure was delayed 45 minutes because the there's a traffic congestion in the Terminal 3 of NAIA.

My flight number was 5J 968 and boarded to gate 8.   I opened my laptop to kill some time.  And the aircraft landed at around 4:00 pm.  I took the chance to take some photos of the aircraft because the boarding gate has a very big glass window.  After 10-20 minutes the passengers were called to board the aircraft.

Gate 8.  We entered the fire exit door to get out of the building.

Loading the carry-in baggage and some products in the aircraft

Entering the aircraft

Once boarded in the aircraft, I noticed the air-conditioner inside and it is visible.  My seat number was 22E and unfortunately, the seat was in the middle part so I do not have the privilege to view the outside through the window.  Before taking off, the crew members demo the correct way to use the seat belt, oxygen mask and life vest.

Holy smoke! :D

After the aircraft took off, the crew members played a mini game. Just like before, the winner was the first to bring or in this case, first to show the item/s that the crew member asked.  The prize was enervon multivitamins and a loot bag (I think).  Before landing, I have a chance to see a rainbow within the clouds.

We arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 at around 6:00 pm. From there, I waited for the baggage to come out from the baggage area.

Passengers waiting for their baggage

And then a bad experience happened.  I fell in line in the yellow taxi lane.  I waited for an hour or so and when it's time for me to ride a taxi the first driver have to go to restroom.  The second driver is worse.  After I got inside the taxi and told the driver the destination (which is Valenzuela), the driver told me that the fare will be fixed and it will be a whooping Php850!  For comparison, the fare from Valenzuela to NAIA last Monday was Php350.  That 100+% increase!  I got angry but still manage to control my anger, I told the driver to take me to Taft Avenue, EDSA.  The flat down rate for that yellow taxi is Php70.  To my surprise, the fare increase rapidly even though the distance is less than300 meters.  So I thought that the fare reader was not proper. I didn't complaint so I just paid the fare from NAIA to Taft Avenue for Php145. 

I'm not saying that all drivers from the yellow taxi were like that but please take my advice.  Once you got out from the airport terminal, go to a bus station.  If there is no other choice, go to the highway and wait for a taxi there.  They gave me a dispatcher slip and there's a contact number to call for complaints.  I didn't call to complain because I don't have trust to the authority that they will make some actions on my complaint.  So I just write in this to warn you dear readers to be aware of those yellow taxi.  I haven't encounter this kind of bad experience in a white taxi but I'll be very careful next time. I rode a bus and went home at around 11pm.

And that's, my dear readers, my adventures to Davao.  Hopefully, I will have another chance to travel around the country and hopefully not for work.